Month: October 2015

How did an introverted writer who used to hate public speaking find the courage to take to the West End stage in her own solo theatre show? Yang-May Ooi, writer and performer of Bound Feet Blues – A Life Told in Shoes, reveals on the Ginger Public Speaking blog her fearlessness secret to supercharge your confidence as a public speaker.

Click on the image below to read the full article on the Ginger Public Speaking blog….

Ginger Public Speaking is a public speaking coaching company founded by Sarah Lloyd-Hughes, a popular speaker on confidence and inspiration and an award winning social entrepreneur, whom I am honoured to call a friend.

Featured in the TEDx series of public speeches, Sarah is an energetic, original and deeply authentic speaker who works with professionals and entrepreneurs to help them communicate with courage. She has successfully taught thousands of people across three continents. As a speaker on confidence, Sarah builds inspiration in her audiences, whatever their experience levels. She challenges and supports them on the journey to become passionate, authentic and inspiring communicators.

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The SEA Arts Fest or South East Asian Arts Festival has been a key supporter of Bound Feet Blues from the very beginning. One of the festival’s producers Annie Kwan saw writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi’s scratch night performance of the draft work in March 2014 at Conway Hall and invited Yang-May to bring it to the festival later that year.

In October 2014, Yang-May showcased the completed version Bound Feet Blues for one night only as part of the SEA Arts Fest 2014 to a sold out audience and garnered 4+ star reviews.

This year SEA Arts Fest 2015 is championing Bound Feet Blues again, scheduling the full production as part of the festival. We are grateful to festival director Hi Ching and his team for their ongoing support and enthusiasm for the show.

SEA Arts Fest 2015

SEA ArtsFest is the first Southeast Asian arts festival in the UK, championing and developing the work of the artists of Southeast Asia and those inspired by Southeast Asia. SEA ArtsFest brings together artists, practitioners, makers and thinkers to increase awareness of SEA Arts and its audience base, and is supported by Arts Council England.

The festival features an exciting range of work including film, theatre, music, traditional and heritage arts, outdoor performances, participatory workshops, digital media-based projects, roundtable discussions, and more, taking place across multiple locations in London and other parts of the UK. The inaugural festival took place between 1st October and 10th November 2013.

SEA ArtsFest 2015 will be taking place between 26th October and 13th December 2015.

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Kristian Morgan is an unofficial member of the Bound Feet Blues team but he has the important role of working with writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi on her fitness and stamina for the challenging task of performing on stage for 5 nights a week over 3 weeks.

Kristian Morgan, personal trainer

Kristian is a freelance mobile personal trainer based in Dulwich, South London. He is a national ultra marathon 50k champion. He has completed over 50 marathons and ultra marathons (an Ultra is any distance greater than 26.2 miles). He is also an ironman triathlete but most of all he is a friendly approachable personal trainer.

He has been personal training in and around Dulwich since 2007 helping people achieve their goals, whether it’s been preparing for a marathon or just regular exercise. www.kristianmorgan.comContinue reading →

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Bound Feet Blues is a solo theatre performance – but on an epic scale. Writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi takes the audience across continents from Asia to Europe and Australia. We’ll be sharing with you the landscapes of Bound Feet Blues here on this blog over the next few weeks. Today, the vast desert scenery of the Australian Outback.

In Bound Feet Blues, the open skies and vast desert of Australia gives Yang-May’s younger self a freedom she never had in the narrower landscapes of London and Oxford…

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Crin Claxton will be running the show for each performance, taking care of all the technical and behind the scenes details as the production manager to make sure each night goes off without a hitch.

Crin Claxton, Production Manager

Crin Claxton is a highly experienced lighting, sound and AV technician, and lighting designer. She worked as venue technician (chief) and touring technician (LX, sound, stage) for multiple companies and has been production manager and Continue reading →

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Hua Tan travels between Shanghai and London, working on diverse productions from Chinese language dramas and operas to international collaborations like the National Theatre’s Chinese language production of War Horse. She has created an amazing set for Bound Feet Blues as well as complementing Yang-May’s performance with a nuanced and atmospheric lighting design.

HUA TAN – Theatre Designer

Hua Tan is an established creative lighting designer and scenographer based in London who works for theatre productions in the UK and China. Hua completed an MA in lighting design from The Central Academy of Drama in China, and an MA distinction in Scenography from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. In her varied, successful career Hua has lit and designed for opera, drama, dance, and traditional Chinese operas. The highlights of her career to date include ‘Under The Hawthorn Tree’ (National Theatre of China), ‘Queen of coquetry’ (Shanghai Drama Art Centre) and ‘Open Country’ (Beijing Dance Academy). Her work has attracted awards and prizes including the ‘best lighting design’ at China Lotus Dance Festival, Shanghai Stage Art Society, Henan Theatre Festival, the ‘best set and Continue reading →

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Yang-May Ooi, writer and performer of Bound Feet Blues, has been featured in Nee Hau, the online magazine for British Chinese and East Asian culture. You can read the full article by clicking on the image below.

Here is an extract: “From internationally best-selling fiction author to performing her personal story, with a three-week run at Tristan Bates Theatre scheduled from November 24th to December 12th2015, Yang-May has evolved to become the confident storyteller she is today, shining in her 50s. The show is part of the South East Asian Arts Festival 2015 and funded by The Arts Council and The Housing Finance Corporation. Yang-May is supported by a team of experts including Jessica Higgs, creative director, Eldarin Yeong, producer and Hua Tan, theatre designer.” Read the full article..

I interviewed him in 2006 on my Fusion View podcast for the London Theatre Blog and in his memory, I am publishing again the podcast in its entirety below. He talks about his life as a repertory actor in the 1950s. It is a fascinating journey into history and into the craft of acting for anyone who is interested in theatre – and a lovely way for me to remember “Walter”, especially his warm, resonant voice that has a touch of Anthony Hopkins to it.

Click on the image below for the pop up player to listen to the interview. (To return to this page from the player, click the Back button on your browser)

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For a solo show like Bound Feet Blues where Yang-May is the sole performer and focus, holding the stage for an hour, Tristan Bate Theatre is the ideal venue. The theatre space is intimate, seating 60 people, and yet can seem vast as is appropriate for the epic quality of the story.

Tristan Bates Theatre

Opened in 1994, the Tristan Bates Theatre is dedicated to the memory of Tristan Bates, son of Actors Centre patron Sir Alan Bates, an aspiring actor who died at the age of 19. An intimate studio theatre, the TBT has an acclaimed history of showcasing and supporting the best new work in the heart of Covent Garden. Over the past two decades the theatre has Continue reading →